Santa Clara Panel Fines Candidate Over Contributions

Maria Alicia Gaura, Chronicle South Bay Bureau

Published 4:00 am, Thursday, October 3, 1996

Supervisor candidate Barbara Koppel became the first politician to run afoul of Santa Clara County's Ethics Commission yesterday, receiving $1,500 in fines for four violations of the county's tough campaign finance law.

Koppel, a Cupertino city councilwoman, was also required to turn over $500 in illegal contributions to the county's general fund.

All of the violations took place during Koppel's primary campaign. She is now embroiled in a runoff for the Fifth District supervisorial seat with Palo Alto City Councilman Joseph Simitian.

The commission stopped short of censuring Koppel's campaign, noting that the 2-year-old campaign finance rules had never before been applied and acknowledging that they may have been open to misinterpretation.

President Trump addresses nation after mass shooting at Florida SchoolWhite House

They also dismissed as groundless the most serious charge -- that Koppel had accepted money from Kaiser Cement Corp. shortly after the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, on whose board she sat, approved a permit application from the company.

"I am somewhat sympathetic to the Koppel campaign," said commission member Kirk Hanson. "But this ordinance clearly expects a higher standard of care than is required under (statewide) campaign fi

Related Stories

After the decision, Koppel said she thought the charges frivolous, the judgment harsh and vowed to change the law if she is elected in November.

"We have reported everything, and adhered to the letter of the law as best we could," Koppel said. "We are going to put this past us . . . and move on with the campaign."

Simitian, who brought the violations to the attention of the commission, said he was vindicated by the decision.

"I don't think the truth is frivolous, and I don't think that illegal campaign contributions are frivolous," he said. "We identified more than $10,000 in funds that were improperly raised and spent."

The law limits individual contributions to $350 and prohibits contributions during the last 17 days of a campaign. While it does not specifically prohibit deficit spending on campaigns -- an apparent oversight by the law's drafters -- it bans spending money raised after the election to retire campaign debt.

Koppel was cited by the commission for accepting $350 donations from both Kaiser Cement Corp. and Kaiser Sand and Gravel Co. -- a violation of the contributions limits -- and was required to forfeit $350 to the county.

She was fined $500 for accepting $700 worth of food and drink for her post-primary party because the donation was given after the 17-day deadline had passed.

Another $500 fine was leveled for accepting a $350 contribution from the Jim Cuneen for Assembly Campaign but listing the donation as a personal check from Cuneen's wife. Cuneen had previously been listed as donating $150. The campaign forfeited $150 to the county to reduce Cuneen's personal contribution to legal limits.

Finally, Koppel was fined $500 for attempting to raise more than $9,000 to retire the deficit left by her primary campaign. Koppel's attorney, Richard Abdalah, argued that the law does not prohibit running a deficit, and Koppel added that if she were prohibited from raising money the only legal option left would be "to stiff my vendors . . . and I can't do that."

But commission members upheld the charge, saying that the law's main intent was to let the public know who is paying for campaigns before the election.

Koppel's campaign filed a counter-complaint against the Simitian campaign with the county clerk yesterday, charging Simitian with illegally using in his current campaign some $30,000 left over from his unsuccessful run for the state Assembly.

Simitian declined to comment on the charges, which will be heard by the commission October 16.